Behind History For January 2 – Today in History

Behind History For January 2

1900 – American statesman and diplomat John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.

1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Russian garrison surrenders at Port Arthur, China.

1920 – The second Palmer Raid, ordered by the US Department of Justice, results in 6,000 suspected communists and anarchists being arrested and held without trial.

1941 – World War II: German bombing severely damages the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.

1942 – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) obtains the conviction of 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history—the Duquesne Spy Ring.

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1942 – World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces, enabling them to control the Philippines.

1949 – Luis Muñoz Marín is inaugurated as the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.

1954 – India establishes its highest civilian awards, the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan.

1955 – Following the assassination of the Panamanian president José Antonio Remón Cantera, his deputy, José Ramón Guizado, takes power, but is quickly deposed after his involvement in Cantera’s death is discovered.

1959 – Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.

1963 – Vietnam War: The Viet Cong wins its first major victory, at the Battle of Ap Bac.

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1967 – Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of California.

1971 – The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic association football (soccer) match.

1974 – United States President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.

1975 – At the opening of a new railway line, a bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways.

1975 – The Federal Rules of Evidence are approved by the United States Congress.

1976 – The Gale of January 1976 begins, resulting in coastal flooding around the southern North Sea coasts, affecting countries from Ireland to Yugoslavia and causing at least 82 deaths and US$1.3 billion in damage.

1978 – On the orders of the President of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, paramilitary forces opened fire on peaceful protesting workers in Multan, Pakistan; it is known as 1978 massacre at Multan Colony Textile Mills.

1981 – One of the largest investigations by a British police force ends when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the “Yorkshire Ripper”, is arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

1991 – Sharon Pratt Kelly becomes the first African American woman mayor of a major city and first woman Mayor of the District of Columbia.

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1993 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navy kill 35–100 civilians on the Jaffna Lagoon.

2004 – Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.

2012 – Englishman Adrian Lewis retains his PDC World Darts Championship with a 7-3 win over Andy Hamilton at Alexandra Palace, London.

2014 – 30 people are killed after a bus plunges off a cliff and falls 400 ft in Malshej Ghat, India.

2016 – Saudi Arabia executes 47 alleged terrorists, including Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

2017 – US House Republicans vote to gut the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, a public uproar forces them to back down the next day.

2018 – Bus crash in Pasamayo, Peru, kills 51 on notorious “Devil’s Curve” road.

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2018 – WHO reveals it will classify gaming addiction as mental health condition in its next Classification of Diseases.

2018 – Storm Eleanor forms near Ireland then sweeps across the UK and Western Europe in next few days.

2019 – United States international Christian Pulisic becomes the most expensive American soccer player when he moves from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea for £58; remains at Dortmund on loan until the end of the season.